The present invention is directed to a high actives concentrated cleaning composition or, more particularly, to an all-purpose concentrated liquid cleaning composition comprised of a novel blend of nonionic surfactants which has an actives level of up to 100%. Methods for using such compositions are also disclosed.
There has long been a desire to produce concentrated cleaners for industrial and consumer use. Concentrated cleaners provide high strength cleaning for difficult soils and economical solutions when diluted for ordinary use. The sale of concentrated cleaners also minimizes packaging and transportation costs.
While concentrated heavy duty powder and liquid detergent compositions useful in laundry applications are known in the art, there is a need for highly concentrated liquid cleaners which can be diluted to a strength preferred by the end user and which can be used in general all-purpose cleaning applications such as hard surface cleaning, kitchen utensil cleaning, hand washing, sink laundry applications and the like. Such concentrated cleaning compositions can be used as is or diluted in a variety of ways such as in a bucket dilution or spray bottle dilution.
General all-purpose cleaning compositions are currently known in the art. A typical approach to formulating a general all-purpose cleaner is to use a mixture of anionic and nonionic surfactants. Anionic surfactants are almost always included in general all-purpose cleaners because anionic surfactants provide foam levels which are acceptable to the consumer. These formulations are typically diluted with water and sold as ready-to-use preparations. Further, compositions which have actives in the range of 30% to 50% of the composition are known in the art. However, problems have been encountered when trying to formulate cleaning compositions with actives levels above this range. High active systems above this range typically suffer from undesirable viscosity profiles. For example, gel regions at certain concentrations can cause a steep viscosity rise with increased actives levels or unacceptable dispersibility in water due to gelling upon dilution. Naturally, such a product is difficult for the consumer to use since it may not flow and may not disperse readily with water. Additionally, such high actives systems can lack homogeneity, thus requiring agitation by the consumer before and during use in order to obtain an equal dispersion of actives material.